Hiwatt

Hiwatt is a British company who manufacture amplifiers for electric guitars and electric basses. Starting in the late 1960s, together with Marshall and Vox, Hiwatt contributed to the sonic image popularly termed "British sound".

History

Dave Reeves started Hiwatt and Hylight Electronics in 1966. In order to raise capital for his young company, Reeves accepted a contract to build a line of amplifiers for Ivor Arbiter's store Sound City. By mid-1968 and the contract with Sound City fulfilled, Reeves focused on his own brand, Hiwatt.

By 1969, The Who and Pink Floyd were the most well known users of Hiwatt. Later that year, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) had a Hiwatt custom made for him. Jethro Tull and Manfred Mann were other famous users at that time.

By 1970, Hiwatt produced PA amps as well as 50-watt (DR504), 100-watt (DR103), and 200-watt (DR201) all-purpose amplifiers. Until that time, Reeves had been building all of the amps in his garage with the help of his wife Daphne and Doug Fentiman. In early 1970, Reeves accepted that he could not keep up with demand and began looking for well qualified electrical technicians to be contracted.